


Moony's Secret

by PhlamingFeonix



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Conversations, F/M, Furry, Hurt/Comfort, James Potter Has ADHD, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Modern Era, Mutual Pining, Post-Break Up, chocolate chip muffins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26504389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhlamingFeonix/pseuds/PhlamingFeonix
Summary: The first time Remus walked into the shop he was alone. After a rough breakup he's in need of a shoulder to cry on, a friend to talk to and a decent chocolate chip muffin. What he gets is Sirius Black, but can he overcome his nerves and his secret to make a fresh start?
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 41





	1. Sirius

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey hey, it's another coffee shop AU! Hope you enjoy the pining of these two fluffy idiots, accompanied by chocolate chip muffins.

The first time Remus walked into the shop he was alone. 

Marauders’ Coffee was an independent, recently opened coffee shop in the small, sleepy market-town of Godric’s Hollow. The décor inside featured a lot of comfortable chairs and sofas, most of them decked out in the unusual colour scheme of scarlet and gold cushions, and it was a little out of the way, tucked down a side road rather than the main high street. Despite all this, thanks to the friendliness of service and the excellent drinks it usually did a roaring trade, often packed full during the Saturday morning frenzy or after school when the older students would swing by for a caffeine hit and a slice of cake. On this particular grey Wednesday early afternoon however, there were barely half a dozen people¬ left after the lunch rush—including the two baristas—so when Sirius heard the jingle of the door, he straightened up quickly and plastered on his signature wide, welcoming grin.  
“Hi, welcome to Marauders’ Coffee: What…” he trailed off as he struggled to process the sight of the person in front of him. True, he was tall and gangly with awkward limbs, bags under his red-rimmed eyes as if he was stressed and upset and sleep-deprived, and a large white scar divided his face in two starting just above his left eye and ending at his jawline. But his sandy curls of hair also seemed stolen straight from an angel, his amber eyes had a soft, almost ethereal quality to them that spoke of a gentle soul underneath and besides, the scars were totally badass. “… uh, what can I get for you today?”  
The man glanced up and froze, his eyes locked into Sirius’ as the cogs in his brain whirred to catch up. “Just a g—green tea please,” he managed to stutter out after a few seconds of thought.  
A brief frown of concern flashed across Sirius’ face. He was pretty sure this guy was a new customer (surely he would’ve noticed him before) but already Sirius had this urge to bundle him up in cotton wool and spend a week cuddling him to make him feel better. There was something so fragile about the mysterious man, as if he were about to break into a million tiny pieces—his voice shook as if he were trying too hard to keep it together and his face had a day’s worth of stubble on it like he’d been too preoccupied with his suffering to shave that morning. It reminded Sirius a little bit of himself when he’d left home at 16—dishevelled and scruffy on the outside, broken on the inside.   
“Ok, if that’s all it’ll be £2.99 please.”  
The customer tapped his card against the machine, eyes dancing absent-mindedly around the pictures on the wall behind Sirius until it beeped, then sloped off with hunched shoulders to one of the tables in the corner of the shop as far away from as many people as possible, and sat facing out of the window.  
As Sirius span around to start making the drink he hissed to his co-worker: “Pssst, hey James.”

If it hadn’t been for the kindness and generosity of James Potter and his family, Sirius had no idea where he’d be now. After he ran away, his own house was out of the question (indeed his family would disown him soon after) and their boarding school didn’t allow students to stay there over the long summer vacation. His favourite cousin Andi had been forced to move away with her ‘filthy plebeian’ (i.e. working class) boyfriend and hadn’t had a chance to send Sirius the new address yet, while his Uncle Alphard—the only other family member he could stand—had died, leaving Sirius a rather substantial gift in his inheritance… that he couldn’t access until he was 18. The Blacks had also made a lot of enemies over the years, and there weren’t many families with the gall (or money) to stand up to them meaning most of his friends were out of the question. Thus, his options were rather limited to Potter Manor or the streets.  
The other barista turned his head from the counter he was wiping and raised an eyebrow, tapping his fingers along to the beat of the background music that was playing. “Yes, Sirius?”  
“Did you recognise that guy who just came in? He’s over in the corner now.”  
He glanced briefly over at the man, now sitting gazing out the window with a wistful look in his eyes. “Don’t think so, why—do you know him from somewhere?”  
“Hell no, I would’ve noticed a guy like him before. Do you think he’s single?”  
James sighed. They’d had this conversation at least a dozen times before—half the time he thought Sirius only agreed to work at the shop with him as an opportunity to speak to cute guys in their area. It was like he lived in a sodding romance novel. “I don’t know Sirius, given that I’ve never met him before. He’s probably married to a lovely wife with two kids knowing your luck. Just maybe you should think about not giving your number out to every cute guy who comes in here—especially after last time. Anyway he looks like, 10 years older than us.”  
Sirius shook his head. “Nah, I reckon he’s younger than he looks. And I’ll remind you that last time was an outlier; this one’s different—I can feel it—let me give him a muffin at least. Please…”  
James simply rolled his eyes and shrugged half-heartedly in response, as if to say, ‘go on then’. One of the benefits of actually owning the shop was that they could get away with a lot of things (like giving away free muffins to attractive customers) without worrying about having anyone to report to. Buying the shop had been his idea, in fact: They both had at their disposal a frankly ridiculous amount of money, so much so that they wouldn’t have to worry about having a job for most of their life— but they’d found at school that a love of coffee was one of the many qualities they shared. For Sirius, it helped wake him up in the mornings after a night of bad dreams (or indeed, staying up planning pranks), and for James it was one of the only things that seemed to be able to calm him down enough to be able to focus on one thing at a time. So they’d made a pact at graduation to try out the wacky idea of opening a coffee shop: if it worked then ‘brilliant’, and if it didn’t then ‘oh well, guess we could use our private school education for something more useful’. Of course, James had insisted that they do it properly (when he was truly invested in a project it was difficult to draw his attention away to anything else, in stark contrast to what most of his school teachers said), so they’d travelled round Central America for a few years to learn more about the coffee there (and also because travelling was fun). Then it was back to England to try and complete a course in business and management (the boring side of things). Eventually they’d given up and just hired Peter Pettigrew, another close friend and fellow trickster from school to work for them—he’d always been better at actually getting the business side of things done. Sirius naturally considered such tasks beneath him, while James would get frustrated at the rigmarole of (to him) seemingly pointless tasks. Spreadsheets and finances certainly fit into the category of things that he didn’t care about.   
He shook his head out of the reverie and turned his head to watch Sirius approaching the customer.

“Hi, here’s that green tea and a chocolate chip muffin on the house,” said Sirius as he slid the saucer and plate onto the customer’s table. The man snapped out of his sorrowful gazing, looked up at the muffin, opened his mouth as if to say something and then promptly crumpled into tears, putting his head in his hands.   
“Oh f—I mean—please don’t cry. I’m sorry, was it something I said? I don’t know what to do—how do I… do you want a hug?”—at this the man started crying even harder into his hands— “Ok, I guess not a hug then… I’m sorry. Are you not a fan of muffins?”  
Suddenly, the customer pulled him into a tight embrace and started openly sobbing into his scarlet uniform. Flummoxed, Sirius gently placed his hands round the other’s shoulders, patting his back awkwardly and whispered soothing words into his ear. He snuck a helpless glance over his shoulder at his fellow barista, but James just shrugged at him again, and continued wiping the counter, tapping away to the music.  
“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m sorry I upset you, but you’re safe here. Could you… could you tell me your name?”  
The man continued sobbing into his chest, struggling to get the words out. “R¬—R—Remus.”  
Sirius nearly blinked in surprise—it wasn’t often that he met someone with as weird a name as himself. “Okay Remus, my name’s Sirius and I’m really sorry about this—I’m not really that good at comforting people; usually that’s James’ job you see? Don’t worry about anyone else right now, it’s just you and me talking here. You can cry as much as you want. Maybe you can explain to me why you’re upset and we’ll see what we can do?”  
At first, Sirius thought that the customer hadn’t heard him over the sobbing or that maybe he was just ignoring his feeble attempts at comfort but slowly Remus’ breathing seemed to slow down a little, his hands stopped shaking quite so much and the flood of tears thoroughly soaking the apron started to tail off.  
“I… I broke up with my boyfriend last night because… well anyway I thought I’d get a drink to treat myself because it’s something we used to do together when I had a half day on Wednesdays like today—I work in the local library you see and we don’t open on Wednesday afternoons anyway, I didn’t want to go to our usual place because I thought it would remind me too much of him and that’s painful right now so that’s why I’m here but then you brought me that muffin and he used to make me the best homemade chocolate chip muffins so now I can’t stop thinking about missing him so much and now I’m breaking down in front of a really ho—helpful barista so I can never come back here without embarrassment but I can’t go back to the other place and they’re really the only two good places in town so now if I want a green tea I have to go to the next town over and I don’t have a car so that’ll be impossible and then—”  
“Breathe, Remus please breathe. You’ll always be welcome here okay? We’re always happy to help cheer people up if they’re having a bad time. It seems like you’re going through a rough time in your relationship—”  
“Ex-relationship.”  
“Sorry, your ex-relationship; do you want to talk about what happened?”  
Remus hesitated before answering. “H—he found out I’m a … I’m a … why are you being so nice to me?”  
Sirius hesitated for just a split second before answering with a response more appropriate for the workplace environment. “Remus my friend, you’re having a breakdown in my coffee shop: we can’t have you scaring away all the customers thinking our coffee is that bad.” Sirius tried hard to keep his voice steady as he spoke. He’d always used humour to deflect talking about his own feelings but it felt a lot more awkward when someone else was crying. Crap, maybe he’d gone with the wrong approach, had he just made everything worse?  
Remus tried hard to stifle the small smile that grew on his face but he couldn’t quite manage to stop it sneaking across his face. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. His racing pulse continued, not from nervousness however, but from attraction. Damn, he was falling hard for this guy.  
“There we go, I can see that smile Remus… but honestly though, you seem like a super nice guy who’s just had a really sh—uh, a really bad day. I don’t like seeing good people cry—only really horrible people, then it’s at least a little bit funny.   
It was rare that someone could truly make Remus laugh—probably the only person who did it on a regular basis was his closest friend Lily, and she’d known him for over a decade. Yet this man, Sirius the barista, had managed it in practically their first conversation. And as Sirius carefully watched the man in front of him, he was delighted when his face broke open into a soft, wry chuckle. He would give almost anything to see that expression again: The crinkles at the corners of his eyes, the joyful way his lips curved upwards into a hearty smile, it filled his heart with happiness.

Within a few minutes, the tears had dried up, and a watery grin had firmly taken hold on Remus’ face as Sirius told stories of some of the ‘horrible people’ who’d come in to the shop, and how him and James would play tricks on them: nothing harmful, just the occasional mix-up so they could watch them take their first sip and spit it out in disgust. Their reasoning? If the customer was probably going to complain about the drink regardless, at least give them something to complain about.   
From across the room, James cleared his throat loudly and called out, “Sirius, quit flirting and help me make some coffee!” Sirius blushed as he cast a guilty glance back at him and saw a queue starting to build up in front of the counter. He’d been zoning out the jingle of the bell above the door and the chatter of the other patrons.   
“Go on, get back to your job. I’m feeling a whole lot better now, thanks.”  
Sirius paused. “Are you sure? I’m happy to stay here and talk with you if you want to.” Did that sound too desperate? Suddenly he wasn’t sure what to do with his hands. Having them folded on the table seemed so formal; arms crossed was too defensive; playing with his hair too distracted. Settling for leaving them by his side, he looked up at Remus.  
“I’ll be fine. In fact I… should probably get going anyway. But it’s been really nice talking to you—I’ll certainly be coming back here!”  
It was Sirius’ turn to smile when he heard that. For some reason asking for someone’s number after helping them through a public breakdown seemed a little tasteless. He jumped up excitedly, shook his head into a more serious expression.   
“I hope so, you’ve been a great customer.”  
“And you’ve been an amazing waiter.” Remus held up his uneaten muffin, “and I’m confident this’ll be just as amazing. From his expression you could tell he was a slightly different man from the one who walked into the shop. Still dishevelled and scruffy on the outside (even more so, in fact). But beginning to heal on the inside.


	2. Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Remus brings a friend to the shop, things get even more complicated.

The fourth time Remus walked into the shop, he had Lily with him. 

A bracing wind was blowing as the pair walked down the side street together. Tucked up in his warm padded parka (a gift from Lily the year before) and his favourite light blue beanie you could barely tell from the outside that it was in fact Remus underneath all his layers, especially with his fogged up glasses hiding his distinctive amber eyes. Lily, meanwhile, was wrapped up in a bright red scarf that seemed to blend into her auburn hair at the back. Neither of them particularly liked being outside in wintry weather, and this February had been more miserable than most, if not that cold.  
They’d met at high school, bonding over a shared love for literature and suffering at the hands of some of their more boisterous classmates for ‘being too nerdy’. Naturally, they’d put that nerdiness to good use when it came to masterminding how to exact revenge without getting caught. After going to separate universities they’d both returned to Godric’s Hollow to work: her teaching in the local comprehensive they’d gone to together (trying to be the teacher she wished she’d had) and him in the town’s library.   
Just as a light drizzle started from the grey clouds gathering above they jogged the last few metres to make it under the cover of the shop, eagerly looking at the warm, brightly lit shelter inside.  
“I’m excited to try this one, you said it’s better than the place down the road?”  
“Yeah, I’ve been coming here the last couple of Wednesdays; the tea’s really good, and the staff were so friendly, especially the first time—more so than they have to be in the service industry, I mean. I was still pretty shot up about Fenrir at the time you know?”  
Lily nodded. She’d heard all about Fenrir and hadn’t particularly liked him even when the two were dating. Maybe it was because he always hated it when Lily and Remus spent any time together, jealous of their proximity. Safe to say, there was no chance of a relationship between them. They’d tried once of course, because that was what everyone expected them to do when they saw how close they were, but the first date had been a disaster from start to finish and they’d both sworn for the sake of their friendship never to repeat it.  
The bell jingled merrily as they entered and immediately Lily whistled lightly under her breath.  
“Damn Remus, I can see what you were saying about the hot dark-haired barista. You sure he’s off-limits?” Tucking her hair behind her ear, she studied the man in front of her as they joined the back of the short queue. His hair was black and messy in a way that seemed casual but quite possible could’ve taken half an hour to achieve; stylish glasses adorned his face, framing hazel eyes sparkling with mischief. His lips stretched wide into a laid-back, friendly smile showing off his pearly white teeth, contrasting against his dark tanned skin. Broad shoulders and toned arms betrayed an athletic lifestyle despite his easy-going atmosphere, and his hands always seemed to be doing something—not like he was restless exactly, in fact it seemed perfectly subconscious—but nevertheless he was either drumming his fingers, or ruffling them through his hair to make sure it was never too neat, or doodling on the pad of paper he was taking orders on, or something else to occupy his hands.   
“Huh? What are you—no that’s not him, that’s the other one: James I think?”  
Lily frowned. True, he didn’t exactly have the regal cheekbones or the long, wavy flowing hair or the steely grey eyes that could peer into the depths of your soul (as Remus had described it) but then there was something so alluring, so captivating that she just couldn’t seem to look away. She didn’t realise it was their turn to order until James shook his head slightly and asked “Hi, welcome to Marauders’ Coffee, what can I get for you today?”  
“Oh, uh… we’ll take a green tea, a cappuccino, and two chocolate chip muffins please”  
His smile widened when he saw who they were. “You’re Remus’ friend! It’s Lily right?”   
She nodded uncertainly, trying very hard to ignore the way her heart skipped a beat when he said her name. “He’s mentioned me before?” she asked.  
“Well, it’s mostly him and Sirius who like to have their little chats, but I’ve overheard your name crop up a few times. It’s nice to finally put a face to it.”  
“I’ve heard a lot about this place from Remus too, let’s hope you meet my expectations,” she quipped, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. “I look forward to drinking a decent cappuccino¬—the chain down the road always make it a little too frothy.”  
“I hope the coffee won’t be the only thing keeping you coming back here,” he replied immediately with a cheeky wink. “F—damn, sorry: that was probably way too forward and not at all appropriate.”   
She glanced up, surprised at his honesty, but shook her head. “I kind of like it when people say what they’re thinking.” And with a wildly overdramatic (at least according to Remus) flick of her hair she was headed towards a table next to the wall, opting for the seat facing the counter. Remus sighed and shuffled after her, pulling off his beanie to leave a mop of wild fluffy curls and extracting himself carefully from his parka to hang it over the back of his chair.

As soon as they sat down Remus raised his eyebrows at her. She looked at him calmly, daring him to break the silence.   
“You like him.”  
She sighed. “Was it that obvious?”  
“Anyone with half a brain could see it.  
“Okay, so not that obvious then. I swear some of the kids in 10B…”  
She trailed off as Remus kept staring at her, an amused expression still on his face. She glared back at his refusal to accept the change of subject. Fortunately, the mutual glaring was interrupted by the arrival of their drinks.   
“One cappuccino, a green tea and two of our famous chocolate chip muffins.”  
Lily looked up at James and tucked some hair behind her ear. Remus struggled to stifle a laugh as his friend tried to think of something witty to say in return. In almost any other situation, he knew she would be able to (one of their many things in common) but there was something about James Potter that seemed to freeze the gears in her brain.   
“Hope you enjoy them—next time it’s on the house.”  
As soon as he was out of earshot she leant over the table and whispered in his ear, “It’s not just me right? He’s being really kind. Like over-the-top nice.”  
He grinned at her. “Oh yeah, it’s not just you thinking that. He’s a pretty direct guy from what I can tell—I think you two’d be great together. Also do I need to mention those calves…? Pretty sure he plays a lot of rugby.”  
Lily’s face turned almost as red as her hair as she quickly segued the conversation into some of the antics the kids in her geography class had been pulling. Apparently someone had replaced all the maps around her classroom with the question papers to the end of term test, and the headmistress had not been pleased at all. To be fair, it wasn’t like Lily would anticipate a student learning how to pick locks just to get into her teaching materials cupboard. “I mean really, what’s the point? There are far more interesting cupboards to look in. I think Mr Prewett keeps fireworks in his—they could do a lot more damage!”  
Eventually, after much sipping of their respective drinks and nibbling at the muffins (Lily agreed that they really were exceptionally good muffins—almost good enough to rival Hope Lupin’s home cooking), the conversation returned to Remus and his hopeless affection for the other barista who had since returned from his break. Remus kept having to restrain himself from turning around to get a look at his heartthrob, since despite their friendly conversations and obvious chemistry for the last couple of visits, he still hadn’t picked up the courage to ask for a number (much to Lily’s chagrin).  
“I just don’t know if I should start something new so soon after Fenrir left me, particularly with my hobbies.”  
“Remus, YOU broke up with Fenrir because HE was a self-centred prick. Moony’s a part of your life and you shouldn’t have to change that for anybody,” she snapped. “Look, I know it was painful but I don’t think Fenrir was right for you. You deserve someone who can treat you with respect, and who likes how passionate you are about things you care about. From what you’ve told me about Sirius he’s more than just a pretty face—you two seem to know so much about each other after a few conversations. I’ve never seen your face light up about someone the way it does when you talk about him.”  
He sighed. Perhaps she was right, but the risks of embarrassing himself by asking someone way out of his league, not to mention destroying any hope he ever had of coming back to his new favourite coffee shop far outweighed the remote possibility that Sirius could ever be interested in someone like him.   
“Look,” said Lily, “I’ll show you how it’s done.” And with that she downed the last dregs of her cappuccino and went up to the counter, now fortunately devoid of a queue.

James looked up and smiled as Lily approached, laying down the tongs he was restocking the display of cakes with. She glanced at Sirius. “Remus wants to ask you something,” she said casually.   
James grinned. “Finally…” he muttered under his breath, and then quietly to Sirius: “Don’t be a coward this time.”   
The other barista smirked as he cast a brief look at the door to check for any more customers, then strolled off to meet Remus at the table.  
“Now that it’s just us, is there anything you want to ask me?”  
She chuckled softly to herself. “Just one question…”  
Leaning forward eagerly, James nodded in anticipation.   
“Scarlet, really?”   
He blinked, then broke out into such a loud and hearty belly-laugh that a mother in the corner of the shop jumped in alarm. After he’d calmed down enough, he began his explanation. “Sirius and I, we both went to this stupidly fancy private school up in Scotland: Hogwarts¬—it’s a stupid name, I know—and we’ve been best buds ever since we were both in ‘Gryffindor House’ in first year. So, when we got this place we decided to base the design and colour scheme on our old common room to carry forward some of those memories.”  
“That’s actually really sweet.”  
“What can I say? I blame Sirius—he likes to think he’s all ‘punk rock’ but really he’s a massive sap at heart.” He leaned in conspiratorially and added with a roguish wink, “don’t tell him I told you that though.”  
She chuckled—James Potter certainly seemed like her type of guy. When Remus had told her about the pranks at Hogwarts (and in the shop) she was reminded a little uncomfortably of the bullies they used to face at Godric’s Hollow Comprehensive School. But the more she spoke to him, the more kind-hearted, selfless and protective he seemed. His infectious good humour, energy and straightforwardness was something rather welcome after what had been a trying half-term teaching (and a winter of bad weather). Not to mention, he made an excellent cappuccino.  
“You know I’d not been having the best day until I met you. I lost my keys this morning, not that that’s a particularly unusual occurrence of course but it’s still frustrating, then the weather was horrible on the way into work because we ride in on Sirius’ death-trap of a motorcycle and it was raining and then we had some very slow and passive-aggressive customers this morning to deal with…  
He trailed off, suddenly nervous looking as he twirled his pen through his fingers over and over in a mesmerising loop. She tore her eyes away from it to look at his face instead, but his eyes were also downcast. “Also my parents’ cat—Crookshanks—died a couple of weeks ago; she was such a kind-hearted and intelligent creature, sometimes I felt like she could tell what I was thinking even when I didn’t know myself.”  
Lily frowned sympathetically and reached out a hand to pat his shoulder reassuringly. The conversation had taken a turn for the worse (in a sad way), she thought to herself. “It’s always rough when that happens—it’s alright to be upset about it.”  
He nodded silently, continuing to loop the pen around his hand. “Basically where I’m going with th—”  
“LILY! We’re heading off now, let’s go,” Remus practically shouted as he rushed up to them, grabbing Lily’s wrist to pull her away from the counter. “You can finish your conversation another time.”  
With that he scrambled out the shop, a bewildered (and mildly annoyed) Lily with him and leaving behind a bamboozled pair of baristas. They speed-walked in silence for about 30 seconds, Remus’ long legs meaning Lily had to almost jog to keep up with his strides. Angrily, she snatched her scarf out of his other hand from where he’d picked it up from her seat and wrapped it loosely around herself. 

“Precisely what was that about Remus Lupin?” she asked heatedly, neatly avoiding a large puddle on the pavement as she kept up pace. “I’m fairly sure James was just about to ask me out!”  
He slowed down to her speed with a long sigh, rubbing his face with the heel of his palm. “I bottled it with Sirius,” he said eventually. “I was going to ask for his number, but he was asking questions about my artwork, and he was staring at me with such an obnoxiously attractive smirk on his face that I remembered how low he’d be stooping to be with me, even if it was just out of pity, and I asked for his chocolate chip muffin recipe instead.”  
Lily almost laughed out loud. But right now that wasn’t what her friend needed. ‘Damn Fenrir’ she thought to herself—it had been a while since Remus had been this self-loathing and she was almost positive who the root cause was. No matter the number of times she’d talked with Remus about his self-esteem, trying to affirm to him that people did like him, that there was someone out there for him, it never seemed to work. Neither of them could really afford a therapist either.  
“Sorry about James, I can explain everything to him next time—he’s definitely into you if it’s any consolation.”  
She hesitated, then smiled at him. “Thanks Remus, but it’s alright. Maybe next time I see him I’ll ask—I’m pretty busy with the school trip planning for the next few weeks anyway. How about you and I head back to my place and watch a crappy movie under a blanket, huh?”  
After what felt like an eternity his shoulders sagged and he nodded, trying to let the tension go. “You know just how to cheer me up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed a taste of the Wolfstar (and Jily) to come; not a huge amount happened in this chapter but I think it was important anyway. As always, any lovely comments/feedback is appreciated.


	3. Remus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Remus and Sirius hit it off at last, or will the secrets and shenanigans turn out to be too much? (Spoiler: This is a fluff fic, of course they all get together!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is the end, and probably the last fic of this length I'll be posting for a while (turns out university is busy). Hope you all enjoy it.

The eighth time Remus walked into the shop Regulus was already there.

It had been exactly three weeks since he’d come with Lily and while her school term was in full swing and as hectic as ever, the Wednesday afternoons off at the library remained consistent. By this point Remus was rather pleased with his schedule: At half past one he would leave work, locking up behind him as he went; then a brisk walk (unfortunately often in the rain) to the high street for various shopping errands he needed to run (this week he’d been picking up the dry cleaning and choosing a new stylus for his drawing tablet); and finally heading to Marauder’s Coffee for an afternoon treat and light conversation/banter/flirting with Sirius. He still wasn’t quite sure where they stood after their awkward parting a few weeks ago. Despite the occasional extra visit on a Saturday morning (when it was much more busy, and they didn’t really get an opportunity to talk), Remus wasn’t any closer on coming to a conclusion on his feelings. If he was honest with himself, Lily was probably right: maybe he should ask him out. What’s the worst that could happen?

Before Remus allowed himself to continue down that spiral of negativity inevitably ending in a scenario of apocalyptic doom he readjusted his parka around his shoulders and pushed open the door. A wave of noise alongside the usual delicious smell of freshly baked cakes.

“I was always there for you Reggie! Why do you think your parents always loved you more than me? Because I was always covering for you, you ungrateful prat! You think you can waltz in here now and claim that you’ve changed your mind?”

“ _Don’t_ call me Reggie. You don’t get to call me that after you walked off to live with him!”

Remus had to do a double take as he stepped into the cafe, because in front of him were two seemingly identical copies of Sirius Black.

“Oh screw you Regulus! I gave you a chance and you made your choice when you stayed with Walburga and Orion that summer.”

“You mean when you _abandoned_ me? For your _new_ brother!

Ah, so they were brothers. That made sense, he supposed, now that he could see some of the subtle differences between them: Sirius was perhaps an inch shorter than his brother, his hair longer and a little less neatly trimmed. Regulus on the other hand, seemed a touch paler, his eyes had a hint of blue to them, and his jawline was a little less pronounced. Briefly it passed through Remus’ head that the barista had never talked about his own family, stealthily switching the conversation to a different track whenever the subject came up. Thus far all that he’d worked out was that for a while after school but before they went travelling together, Sirius had lived with James and his parents.

“I didn’t _abandon_ you! You chose to stay with those demons over me—if anything you’re the traitor!

“I didn’t have a bloody choice then like I do now; they’re our parents—"

“OH FOR GOD’S SAKE WILL BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!”

They both broke off suddenly and stared at Remus with eyes wide and jaws agape. Never had the mild-mannered Remus ever given a hint of how terrifying he could sound when he raised his voice. Regulus began considering which of his choice selection of curse words specially reserved for his brother would be most fitting to insult a complete stranger with, someone who had just _rudely_ interrupted one of their families’ infamous arguments. Clearly he didn’t know what he was getting involved in; the Blacks didn’t usually like outsiders getting involved in their family business. Settling for a hard glare instead on account of the somewhat terrified looking pair of grandmothers clutching their mugs by the window, and the crying baby (and a mother who looked almost close to tears herself) that James was trying to console, he turned back to face his brother to continue the argument. But before he could open his mouth Remus was delivering a stern lecture.

“Sirius, this is no way to treat your brother! You’re standing in your own coffee shop that you didn’t make this successful by shouting at people you disagreed with. I can see there’s a lot of history for you two to unpack that I don’t know about, but he’s had a different experience than you. Be glad that he’s coming around now and is mostly safe and sound.” Drawing in another deep breath, he turned to face the other brother, rubbing the back of his neck as he fought to keep his gaze level.  
“Regulus, I know your brother leaving must have seemed like abandonment, but truthfully it was self-preservation. Maybe you weren’t as lucky as he was to have such a close and supportive friend in James, or you felt obligation to parents or… whatever. Sirius is just glad to have you back now. He does love you—no matter what he says to the contrary—he just has a crappy way of showing it sometimes.

The two looked shamefacedly at each other. A long pregnant pause followed as both of them struggled to find the words to express what they were feeling. Behind them, James was pretending not to listen keeping busy with preparing Remus’ standard order (green tea and a chocolate chip muffin, of course).

“Sirius I… I’m really sorry. I know you took the brunt of it for most of my life, and I guess it was just easier to hate you when you left. I know I can never replicate what James and his family has done for you but… I—I’d like to be a better brother. Closer to you, as if we were young again.

“Reggie—Regulus, look I’m really sorry for leaving you behind. Trust me I regret it every day that I didn’t try and convince you more to come with me, but I had to leave for the sake of my own mental state. I’m so glad you’re out of that place now, please forgive me.” Regulus looked down at his hands, twisting his fingers together before giving him a brisk nod and holding his right hand out awkwardly for a handshake. Sirius knocked his arm out the way and drew him into a tight bear hug, wrapping his arms all the way around his brother. “We’re done with all those stuffy rules we were taught. Hugs are way better than handshakes.”

Regulus huffed out a laugh and brushed some dampness away from under his eye. Even as a couple more customers came into the shop and James started to serve them for a long time they stood there, just breathing in each other’s presence again. It had been years since they’d last hugged—even before Sirius had left they’d had a rough couple of years. Eventually, Sirius broke the silence again, releasing his brother from his bear hug so he could look him in the eye.

“Regg—Regulus, sorry. Regulus, are you free this weekend? We’re having a party at the Potters’ place to celebrate the shop’s anniversary—I would love it if you could come?

Regulus pulled back, shocked. “You would want me there?”

“Of course. You’re my brother,” Sirius added with a soft smile. Strangely, it felt almost alien to him. For so long he’d gotten used to calling Mr and Mrs Potter his ‘parents’, and James had become his brother, if not by blood then by loyalty. Now perhaps he could have two.

Remus sighed in relief. Lily and her sister had a _prickly_ relationship that he’d been an arbiter for one too many times in the past. It wasn’t pretty seeing Petunia, equally hot-headed and sharp as her sister but far less generous with her affection, fight people. Particularly when said person was someone whose sore spots she knew just how to rub. Comparatively speaking, the over-the-top argument between the Black boys seemed a breeze.

He sipped quietly on his herbal tea, idly watching the (biological) brothers as they caught each other up on the events on the past few years. Sirius occasionally glanced at James to make sure there was no queue building up but the sudden burst of customers seemed to have slowed to the normal sluggish pace for a Wednesday just after the lunchtime rush.

“Speaking of, Remus are you free this weekend?”

He started, consciously aware of his sudden involvement in the conversation. Quiet introspection was nice sometimes. Shaking his head, he focused again on Sirius looking at him with an excited, almost tenderly eager expression. “Why?” he asked with a carefully furrowed brow.

“Would you like to come to our anniversary party too? I’ve got the address here—it’s out near Ottery St. Catchpole if you know it,” he said brandishing a paper invitation in front of him.

He hesitated; crowds really weren’t his favourite thing. Something about being an awkward, disfigured introvert meant he hadn’t exactly grown to love them. He could still distinctly recall the only party he went to while at school: He had been to awkward to speak to people, gotten horrifically drunk to overcompensate and ended up having to be carried home in a wheelbarrow by Lily. Rest assured his parents were not best pleased. The invitation was also concerning—just how many people would be coming to this thing? “I, uh… I’m not usually a fan of parties, unless people can’t see who I am, that is.”

Sirius blinked twice. “What? How do you have a party where… whatever, anyway does your answer change if I say please? It’d be really nice to have you there—you’re a regular here now, and Lily could come too if she wanted to.”

Internally, Remus let out an enormous sigh; he could hold a conversation with James or Sirius, and with Lily there it might hold a semblance of a chance of being at least vaguely bearable. Besides, she was always moaning at him to try and get him to socialise a bit more, and after he had disastrously aborted her last chance at speaking to James, she would hold it against him forever if he passed up this opportunity. Shaking his head in despair he reluctantly agreed, grimacing at the loud cheer Sirius let out. It wasn’t that he didn’t like spending time with him, but it would almost certainly lead to some kind of awkward admission of his feelings that he didn’t want to deal with.

“Sure, I’ll come. And I’ll message Lily; she can probably drive us both there.”

The beaming smile on Sirius’ face nearly made it all worth it.

A loud honking awoke Remus from his reverie. He’d been increasingly distracted in the last couple of days, as he fretted about the upcoming party. When he’d told Lily about it, she’d been exceptionally pleased. Despite her apparent nerdiness, Lily also knew how to let loose once in a while and was often the one persuading Remus to try something out of his comfort zone (which mostly consisted of his flat, the library and the occasional convention). Another chance to speak to one Mister James Potter had also been a major attraction—Lily had been exceptionally busy and hadn’t had a chance to visit the shop in one of its few quiet hours. He glanced at the mirror, thought about adding a little more gel to his hair to make it a little neater, decided he didn’t have time, checked his pockets once more for his phone and keys, straightened his tie and rushed out the door to greet Lily.

“Sorry, sorry I was distracted,” he muttered as he climbed into the passenger seat, doing a double take as he saw the dress Lily was wearing. “Damn, you’ve scrubbed up nicely!” It was her favourite long flowing green one, chosen specifically to complement her brilliant eyes. During their time at university he’d only seen it a handful of times: predominantly when she was really trying to impress someone. James Potter was a lucky man indeed.

Lily looked at him with an exasperated sigh. “How are you always ‘distracted’ before these things. I’m not saying that you don’t look nice—because you do, and Sirius Black will be drooling over you—” (at this Remus huffed quietly in derision), “—but it really doesn’t take that long to get ready for a party.

His mouth fell open, and he shot her with a mock affronted glare. “May I remind you of the time you took almost _three hours_ to prepare for the ball at the end of second year?”

She shrugged. “Ah, but I have an excuse because I have to choose between things to wear. You only have one half-decent suit to wear to things like this.”

“Hey, this suit was expensive.”

She scoffed. “Please, we both know Moony cost you ten times whatever you paid for that suit.”

Remus shook his head in mirth. “Nah, I got a pretty reasonable deal with Moony, he’s probably only five times as much,” he said with a wry smile. He really should think about getting a less expensive hobby.

They continued their good-natured bickering all the way to the venue interrupted only by the occasional critique of other driver’s indicating habits. In fact the upcoming prospect of embarrassing himself in front of his favourite barista (especially given there was to be alcohol at the party) only once again crossed Remus’ mind as they were pulling into the driveway of an enormous country estate. Potter Manor was a beautiful 17th century building against a backdrop of rolling fields and traditional woodland. Though the family were obviously exceedingly rich, they preferred a somewhat understated (if you could call it that) display of their wealth. There were certainly no peacocks strutting about, but the house and grounds were neatly maintained and as they ventured inside he saw the staircase looked rather grand

As soon as they were through to the sitting room—which was large enough to not feel too crowded, despite the 40 or so guests—having been greeted by Peter Pettigrew (the one who keeps things running smoothly, as he described himself), Remus started scanning around almost subconsciously for a sight of Sirius. Suddenly, he saw him—in the corner talking with an elderly couple that looked vaguely similar to James. They must be his parents, Remus thought to himself and he smiled at the thought of a young Sirius Black leaving behind such a horrible and old-fashioned family and being taken into by the Potters—such a kind and caring looking couple. To all extents and purposes, they had not one son, but two.

Sirius’ eyes lit up as he caught sight of Remus in his peripheral vision, and he hastily excused himself from the conversation to stroll over.

“Hey.”

“Hi, I’m really glad you could make it, you having a good time?”

“Yeah it’s a nice place, we’re having a great time!” He glanced over at where he thought Lily had been a few moments ago for confirmation, only to see her craftily winding her way through the throng of people to a certain tousle-headed barista, who was busy chattering away at a couple of his friends trying desperately to keep pace with him. “James certainly seems excited today,” he commented.

Sirius chuckled at the animated expression on his friend’s face. “Probably retelling his life story again. He has a tendency to overshare a little, probably his ADHD.”

“Ah, I see,” said Remus, not truly trusting himself to speak more than a few words at a time. Finally, Lily had reached her target and he watched amused as James broke off in the middle of his tirade to enthusiastically welcome her to the party, practically bouncing up and down in excitement.

Sirius took a breath and coughed lightly to get his attention. Remus turned to see him scratching his throat and looking more nervous than he’d seen before. “There’s something I-I’ve been meaning to speak to you about for a while… I guess ever since that first day we met kinda.”

Remus paused; his breath caught in his throat—what was he supposed to do now? He swallowed awkwardly and fingered the cuffs of his jacket for the sake of something to do with his hands. “I guess there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you as well,” he managed to choke out.

Sirius glanced up, frowning.

“I’m a furry.”

He blinked a couple of times, as if confused, then shrugged looking almost relieved at the change of subjects. “Huh… okay. Let’s talk about that instead, what’s your fursona?”

“What?”

“T—That’s… a thing, right? Sorry I, uh… I don’t really know much about furries, did I say something offensive?”

“No, I just… not a lot of people react like that… mostly they just laugh.”

Sirius blinked again. “I mean it’s a pretty unusual thing to bring up in a conversation about… well about me asking you out,” he said bluntly, keeping his eyes fixed on a point just above Remus’ left shoulder, “but then you’re a pretty unusual person.”

“You’re asking me out?”

“I uh… I’d like to but if you don’t want to then… crap, maybe I misread the situation. I thought you were interested… could we—could you consider staying friends—I’m sorry for messing this up so badly…”

He froze, a tsunami of emotions washing through him: relief, confusion, exhilaration, joy, panic. Did Sirius actually want to ask him out, or was he just trying to be nice and hoping for a refusal? Was that a thing people did? Why was his brain able to whir so fast while his mouth seemed to be completely broken?

“Moony,” he managed to say eventually, before immediately cringing.

“What?”

“Moony. That’s my fursona—he’s a wolf, kinda obvious given the name but…”

“Oh cool. If I had to choose, I’d probably be a black dog—maybe that’s a little too obvious given the name too though…”

“No, I like it. A—Also if that offer of a date is still on the table then… I’d like to take you up on it…”

Sirius grinned, a little surprised but mainly overjoyed at the prospect of a date, setting Remus’ brain at rest that he really was looking forward to it. He tried to stifle his own smile, but it was too infectious. He thought back to that first day in the shop and how caring and supportive Sirius had been then, even before they’d known each other. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Lily and James talking in the corner, both laughing their heads off and gazing at each other like the lovesick idiots they were. Perhaps things were looking up after all.

~*~*~*~

The 748th time Remus walked into the shop the whole venue was booked out and decorated with black and gold balloons. It was his wedding reception to Sirius Black, and he had never been happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all, lovely readers, for you time - I wish you well this autumn when cosying up in a coffee shop seems more and more appealing. As always any feedback/comments are always appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed, as always any comments/feedback welcome.


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